"I usually read through emails and do business development in between conference calls," she says.

Sahay can be part of up to seven conference calls a week, but says most are time-wasters unless something else can be done simultaneously. "Conference calls can be useless most of the time with so many people just bouncing around ideas and nothing really gets done, so it's important to be part of the call," she says.

"But it's a great opportunity to also catch up on emails and any other work that needs to be done."

Brisbane-based business coach Jacob Aldridge, who works from home, times his conference calls to coincide with his laundry duties.

Advertisement

"Conference calls epitomise my work-life balance," he says.

"I normally schedule them at the start of the day when I can wash and hang out my laundry or at the end of the day when I can bring it in and fold it away.

"Sometimes I think my CEO must look like a Hills Hoist!"

Noni McCarthy, owner-operator of SixtybyTwenty design and photography business, says she makes the most of conference calls by painting her nails.

"It's the only place I can legitimately sit still and not play with stuff for an hour," she says.

Lissanne Oliver, from SORTED! organising and decluttering business likes to tidy her desk, while Nik Kontoulas, managing director at eggMobi advertising solutions company, uses the time to cook up a storm.

"Computer to the right of the stove while I am cooking lunch, industry press on the screen, audio of conference call," he says.

Paying attention and making meaningful contributions are often low on the list of things people do while participating in a conference call, a recent survey has found. Workers admitted everything from pressing the mute button to go to the toilet to fixing themselves a snack.

More than 500 professionals came clean about their conference call habits in an August survey by US telecommunications company InterCall, which found:

65 per cent of workers do other work

63 per cent write and send emails

55 per cent eat or make food

47 per cent go to the toilet

44 per cent send texts

43 per cent check social media

25 per cent play video games

21 per cent shop online

The survey also revealed strange places people had admitted taking conference calls, including a petrol station bathroom, a McDonald's play area and a fitting room.

Conference calls are no longer the only alternative to meetings not held in person. Virtual meetings using Skype, Google Hangouts and Lync are now common.

"It allows users to measure levels of attentiveness in webinars," he says.

"For example, you can see whether the person has the webinar screen in front of them or something else."

Brown says the "percentage of attentiveness indicator" technology replaces telltale signs of inattention that can be detected in face-to-face conferences.

"It's easy when you're in a meeting because you get to see the body language, which you miss on a phone call," he says.

But if this type of technology is not accessible, Brown says there are other ways to keep conference calls on track.

Send call participants an agenda. This gives them the opportunity to prepare for the meeting and helps ensure all participants turn up.

Appoint someone to keep time and another to be the moderator. This keeps meetings short, sharp and focused.

Give people a role to play during the conference call. For example, someone can play Positive Pat to comment on the positive elements to ideas, while another can play the devil's advocate by being Negative Nancy or Neville.